Are passangers aloud to use a GPS on a commercial airplane?

Answer 1

Check the http://www.tsa.gov website. They are constantly making modifications. It has seperate listings on what can and can not be checked in or carried on. Also, when you land check your top speed on the GPS. Mine registers 380 or so MPH (and it was off on the plane). I tell people that's how fast i drive.

Answer 2

Others have discussed the legalities, but I have a technical contribution: it is difficult for GPS signals to penetrate the metal hull of an airplane. If a GPS will work at all, it will do so only if the antenna is in the middle of a window, as close to the window as you can get. Of course, the airplane's own GPS receivers use antennas mounted outside the plane.

Answer 3

confident, GPS works fairly properly on an plane, in case you carry it close to a window. And confident, it could be wonderful to apply it as quickly as digital gadgets are accepted. A handful of airways are nonetheless residing interior the previous century and don't understand GPS or enable it for use aboard the plane, yet maximum airways have grown out of that, now. you're superb that GPS is barely a receiver, no longer a transmitter, so it is not in all possibility to intrude with something, from now on than an iPod could.

Answer 4

Yes and no. Its illegal for any device to be operated while any aircraft is climbing while flying on an IFR flight plan. after that, they dont really care, but i doubt that it will very well through the aluminum skin. You need at least 3 gps satelites, but it is possible if you press it up against the glass and happen to have 3 satelites in direct line of sight out of that window it would work.

Answer 5

Yes, however the crew can require you to turn it off at their discretion.
Best bet is to send your regards via a "stew" to the Caption with a polite request to follow your flight on your GPS.
I recently flew Southwest from Philly to Raleigh/Durham, Gps on from taxi to
landing/taxi.

EDIT: After reading the responses after mine I am amazed at the IGNORANCE of some people...
Not accurate for speed?? Do you even know how a gps receiver even works??? The refresh rate on you particular unit my be slow but believe me the gps is VERY accurate as to speed!!
Cant receive signals with a auto gps...BS, the sats dont know what type of data base you are working with! the unit converts signals from the sats to display where you are , speed altitude etc. with a portable antenna (suction cup type receiver stuck on the window, )you will be able to use it
I personally Use a Garmin 196 that has a AVIATION data base, along with land, and marine functions as well. And it is not some High dollar piece of equipment (<$500.)

Answer 6

Yes you can on most airlines. but like dogzilla said, picking up signals is difficult thru one window. You will be picking up the satellites on the horizon.

Also, GPS is not very accurate for speed, due to the time lag that occurs between updating the position.

Answer 7

Yes, its fine because it doesn't transmit any signal. GPS RECEIVES signals. Interesting tidbit I also learned from a flight attendant...the only reason passengers are asked to turn off electronic equipment during take off and landing is so they can have your full attention. Take off and landing are the most dangerous and they can't have you jamming to your iPod or watching a movie if something goes wrong. With the exception of cell phones, electronic equipment (like an iPod) is not going to interfere with avionics of the plane.

However, with that in mind, I tried using two GPS units on different flights (one is a handheld Garmin for camping/hiking and the other was one for driving navigation on my laptop). Neither of them could pick up the satellite signals.

I was totally confused by this because the airplane itself uses GPS, so why wasn't I picking up a signal? I had a flight attendant explain to me that most public/commercial GPS units aren't equipped to receive signals while moving at such high speeds during flight. Satellite TV (DirecTV on JetBlue flights) as well as aircraft navigation systems are tweaked to receive signals at high speeds. However, if you've flown JetBlue, you'll know that even when the plane banks, ascends or descends suddenly, the TV signal is lost momentarily.

So, feel free to try your GPS out...chances are it won't even work, unless you have a really fancy (or military grade) system.

Answer 8

I've used them on many flights and on two occasions while sitting next to flight crews dead heading to their next flight. One was very interested in the information and knew exactly where we should be, the other was an idiot and said the GPS was inaccurate because it showed us climbing all the way from Seattle until we started to descend into OAK (we were flying from low pressure to high on pressure altitude, so we climbed slowly).

Answer 9

Check the web site of the specific airline you are flying. For example, if you go to American Airlines' page it specifically states that you are not allowed to use GPS. I imagine the other airlines will tell you the same thing.

Answer 10

no